MONTREAL — The various sports federations affected by the closure of the National Sports Institute of Quebec and the Olympic Park sports center are trying as best they can to find solutions to minimize the impact on the preparation of their athletes, a few months away of the Paris Olympic Games.
A fire that occurred on the night of March 20 to 21 near the Stadium tower caused a lot of commotion to decontaminate and clean the 15 floors, covered in soot and water following the work of the firefighters.
Some 275 people are currently at work. Result: the places will be closed for four to six months.
Without a doubt, Swimming Canada is the biggest loser. Its Olympic and Paralympic trials, which will identify the athletes who will represent the maple leaf in Paris, were to take place from May 13 to 19 at the Olympic swimming pool.
As soon as the facilities at the Olympic Park closed, the organization found a temporary location for the training of its athletes. The extended closure announced Wednesday now forces it to prepare a contingency plan for testing.
Swimming Canada would like to find a 50m pool in the Montreal area. It also wants to be able to welcome spectators and broadcast the competition.
“We know that plans for every day of an Olympic and Paralympic year are made months in advance,” acknowledged Suzanne Paulins, interim executive director of Swimming Canada, in a press release. We are also aware that with less than six weeks until the trials, most participants have already booked their travel and accommodation in Montreal.
“We know our athletes are resilient and able to adapt, as are our staff. We are doing our best to minimize disruption.”
While Swimming Canada has its hands full, other federations have also been affected and have had to find new locations to allow athletes to continue their preparation for the Games.
This is particularly the case for Judo Canada, which quickly turned to the Ippon judo club in Montreal. The place is certainly a little smaller than the National Training Center at INS Québec, but it helps minimize the impact of this unforeseen event.
“It would be a lie to say that there is no impact,” said Judo Canada coach Antoine Bouchard, during a telephone interview with the Canadian Press on Thursday. We are stepping out of our comfort zone. We are used to training at the INS, we were well supervised, and from one day to the next, everything is turned upside down.”
“But I think that as soon as the problem arose, Judo Canada turned around to find the best possible solution so that we could continue to train with the minimum impact. Our entire full-time group can train there. So it’s very good.”
Bouchard notably drew a parallel with the COVID-19 pandemic, which, on a larger scale, had forced the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“With COVID, we had limited access to training partners and our facilities were inaccessible. But I think Judo Canada adapted very quickly to find a temporary solution.”
As for the Olympic Park and INS Québec, the priority was to ensure the continuity of certain services. Thus, the INS Québec medical clinic was temporarily moved to the former administrative offices of the Olympic Park.
The services of nutritionists, doctors and physical trainers therefore remain in place.
“Our priority remains supporting athletes in their preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris,” said Marc Desjardins, president and CEO of INS Québec, in a press release. Although this situation is beyond our control, we are fully aware of the inconvenience and challenges that the duration of this closure may cause.
The Paris Games will take place from July 26 to August 11, while the Paralympic Games will take place from August 28 to September 8.
2024-04-05 03:40:25
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